Monday, November 26, 2012

Obamacare as a bureaucratic nightmare

Many businesses have started to deal with the reality of Obamacare. Managers at Applebees, Papa John's Pizza, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Denny's have announced plans to freeze hiring, reduce hours, layoff employees, or increase prices all because of Obamacare. But that is just one aspect of Obamacare. Another is what it does to physicians. Peter Weiss M.D., F.A.C.O.G., is the Director and Founder of The Rodeo Drive Women's Health Center. Writing at PJmedia, he explains the bureaucratic nightmare that it creates for both physicians and patients:

I wish I had the chutzpah of the people who wrote Obamacare. What
they did not tell you, and I am, is that it covers absolutely nothing
more than the bare minimum.

I have now posted a notice in my office and each exam room stating
exactly what Obamacare will cover for those yearly visits. Remember
Obama promised this as a free exam — no co-pay, no deductible, no
charge. That’s fine and dandy if you are healthy and have no complaints.
However, we are obligated by law to code specifically for the reason of
the visit. An annual exam is one specific code; you can not mix this
with another code, say, for rectal bleeding. This annual visit covers
the exam and “discussion about the status of previously diagnosed stable
conditions.” That’s the exact wording under that code — insurance will not cover any new ailment under that code.

If you are here for that annual exam, you will not be covered if you want to discuss
any new ailment or unstable condition. I cannot bait and switch to
another code — that’s illegal. We, the physicians, are audited all the
time and can lose our license for insurance fraud.

Nonsense like this used to be something that only Europeans had to put up with. Thanks to Obama, it is moving to America.

Obamacare gets still more intrusive:

[D]octors will be obligated — that’s right, obligated — to talk to you about things you may have no interest or need to talk about.

You may just want to have a pap smear or check your cholesterol.
However, I am now mandated by the government to talk to you about your
weight, exercise, family life, smoking, sexual abuse(!), and even to ask if you wear seat belts. And I am mandated to record your answers.

I am a physician. But I need to tell you to wear a seat belt and then record your answer.